Overview
The Berry & Co. collection features portraits of just under 100 Chinese New Zealanders dating from the early 1900s to the early 1930s. The majority of portraits are of men. New Zealand's Chinese community was predominantly male until after the Second World War. In the early part of the 20th century Chinese immigrants had to pay £100 in poll tax to enter New Zealand. As such, many men could not afford to bring their wives and families. The group includes just a handful of portraits featuring women and children.
About 40 of the negatives feature an inscribed surname. Typically, the name refers to the person who paid for the sitting, and is often also the actual sitter. The majority of sitters probably lived within the Wellington region.
Can you help us?
We would like to identify these Chinese New Zealanders and to learn something about their lives in China and New Zealand, and to reconnect them with their descendants. Do you recognise any of the names or faces in this collection?
If so, any information you can offer about the sitters would be most appreciated. To aid identification, please be sure to include the Te Papa registration number (B.044366, for example) for the photo in question when you contact us.
Email: familyties@tepapa.govt.nz
Phone: 04 381 7409
Post: Family Ties, c/o Michael Fitzgerald, NZ History & Culture Team, Te Papa, PO Box 467, Wellington